The present invention relates to a cosmetic applicator unit, and more particularly to a cosmetic applicator unit wherein two different cosmetic applicators may be selected from a plurality of such cosmetic applicators and joined to form a dual cosmetic applicator unit.
Mascara and similar cosmetic products are typically applied using a container and an accompanying brush or wand component. The brush component typically comprises a cap with an elongated shaft extending therefrom with an applicator surface at a distal end of the shaft. The cap threadedly engages the container allowing the device to be stored with the shaft and applicator surface received therein. When applying the cosmetic, a user dips the applicator portion into the tube to allow the cosmetic to adhere thereto.
Thus, known applicator devices have traditionally been formed as separate unitsxe2x80x94that is, a single container having a single threaded cap with a single applicator brush or wand extending therefrom. However, it was discovered that by combining two cosmetic applicator devices into a single unit a convenient and space-saving arrangement could be produced. U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,777 to Costa (xe2x80x9cthe ""777 patentxe2x80x9d) discloses such a unit. More specifically, the applicator assembly disclosed in the ""777 patent comprises a central cylindrical member which at each end is formed with internally threaded sleeves meeting at a solid area from which integrally project oppositely directed rods, one of the rods carrying an eyeliner brush and the other carrying a mascara applicator. The assembly also includes two cover members or reservoirs, each of which includes an externally threaded end portion which engages the internally threaded sleeves of the central cylindrical member. Thus, the single threaded cap with a single applicator wand extending therefrom of the traditional design was simply modified such that the cap was threaded on two oppositely facing sides thereof, with an applicator wand extending from each of the two threaded ends.
While the assembly disclosed in the ""777 patent provides advantages over traditional applicator designs, it still suffers from disadvantages of its own. One such disadvantage relates to the fact that the central cylindrical member of the device disclosed in the ""777 patent is an integrally formed piece from which the two rods project. As such, the two cosmetic applicators are fixed and cannot readily be interchanged. This is a disadvantage because the user may wish to change the type of applicators which form the unit and/or change the color of the cosmetic which the unit carries. For example, the ""777 patent discloses a unit which combines an eyeliner brush and a mascara applicator. However, the user may wish instead to combine a mascara applicator with a nail polish brush. In another example, suppose the user wished to use the same mascara, but desired to use a blue eyeliner rather than a black eyeliner originally being used. The unit disclosed in the ""777 patent disadvantageously would not allow a user to modify the combination of the two applicators.
These disadvantages of the ""777 patent were addressed in U.S. Published patent application Ser. No. 2002/0018688 A1 to Dumler et al. (xe2x80x9cthe ""688 referencexe2x80x9d), which discloses a cosmetic applicator unit that comprises two different applicators which are interconnectable together via a pair of coupling members.
In one embodiment of the ""688 reference, the applicators are connected together by means of a locking projection on one coupling member which cooperates with a locking recess on the other coupling member. This embodiment, however, suffers from a number of disadvantages. First, it is undesirable from a manufacturing standpoint to have to manufacture two distinct coupling members. It would be less expensive and more convenient if the coupling members were identical to each other. Second, having two distinct coupling members may cause compatibility problems for the user. More specifically, a user will not be able to combine two applicators to form a unit if both applicators have like coupling members (i.e., applicators having coupling members with a locking projection cannot be combined with other applicators also having coupling members with a locking projection and applicators having coupling members with a locking recess cannot be combined with other applicators also having coupling members with a locking recess).
These disadvantages are not found in another embodiment of the ""688 reference, wherein the applicators are connected together by means of coupling members, each having male threaded ends joined to each other by a female threaded coupling (see FIG. 7). This embodiment, however, disadvantageously requires the manufacture and sale of a separate piece (i.e., the female threaded coupling), which can increase the cost of manufacture and the complexity of assembly by the user.
What is desired, therefore, is a dual cosmetic applicator which allows for two different cosmetic applicators to be selected from a plurality of such cosmetic applicators and joined together, which is relatively simple to manufacture and use, which includes coupling sections which are identical to each other, and which allows for the coupling sections to directly engage each other without the need for a separate additional piece.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dual cosmetic applicator which allows for two different cosmetic applicators to be selected from a plurality of such cosmetic applicators and joined together.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dual cosmetic applicator having the above characteristics and which is relatively simple to manufacture and use.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a dual cosmetic applicator having the above characteristics and which includes coupling sections which are identical to each other.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a dual cosmetic applicator having the above characteristics and which allows for the coupling sections to directly engage each other without the need for a separate additional piece.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by provision of a dual cosmetic applicator formed from two applicator units, each of which includes a cap from which extends an applicator and an internally threaded sleeve facing the applicator. An enclosure includes an externally threaded end portion adapted to threadably engage the internally threaded sleeve of the cap. Each applicator unit also includes a coupling member which is formed by a central internal member surrounded by a peripheral wall, the peripheral wall having a plurality of projections laterally extending therefrom beyond the central internal member and a plurality of recesses corresponding in size, shape and number to the projections. An inner surface of the projections includes one half of a mating pair of snap fitting elements, while an outer surface of central internal member adjacent the recesses includes the other half of the mating pair of snap fitting elements.
The mating pair of snap fitting elements preferably comprises a protuberance and a corresponding recess. The protuberance may extend radially outwardly from the outer surface of the central internal member with the cooperating recess formed in the inner surface of the projection, or the protuberance may extend radially inwardly from the inner surface of the projection with the cooperating recess formed in the outer surface of the central internal member.
Preferably, the coupling member is integrally formed as part of the cap. It is also preferable that the plurality of projections comprises two projections and the plurality of recesses comprises two recesses. The enclosure may comprise a reservoir which contains cosmetic to be applied. The coupling member may be substantially circular in cross-section, substantially square in cross-section, or any of numerous other shapes. The coupling members of the two applicator units are most preferably identical. It is also preferable that the peripheral wall of the coupling member be formed from a resilient elastically deformable material.
The invention and its particular features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered with reference to the accompanying drawings.